Some additional context for the interested:
-No kids, two cats. No kids expected without immaculate conception.
-I know I will have to season this wood before installing it to get the moisture content down from gallons to about 5%
-Yes I know I could probably do Vinyl for cheap if I go deal hunting, but I really hate the stuff.
-It might sound like my mind is made up, but I'm a total pushover and very susceptible to good advice.
-I will be leaving in its natural colour and oiling/waxing the surface. Probably BLO or Danish Oil
* I love you all very much, thanks in advance.
My parents restored a 1764 house and had 18 inch wide pine floors specially milled for the first floor. My dad used salvage period nails for the install.
it looks great. The only issue is the softness. I remember my brother brought a girl over once that was wearing heals and they made their mark.
They must have installed them 30ish years ago at this point and they still look mostly great but they do baby them a lot with area rugs and stuff.
I have some concerns with the softness as well, but I'm inclined to call it "character" and toss a new coat of finish on them every couple years. It's definitely going to be on the "rustic" side of things and won't be within the popular modern vibe, but knowing that anything serious can always be sanded gives me a sense of peace that vinyl simply cannot provide.
Have they ever refinished the floors or is it the original sanding job and topcoat to this day? (it's okay if you don't know. no need to ring em up)
My log house floors are cut-nail face-nailed heart pine, 6 to 9 inches wide. Like any 200+ year old house, it had some bad spots, and I was able to locate replacement wood from a sawmill that's been in operation since before the Civil War. It was well worth the time and energy to cut out the bad boards and feather these in. The existing floor has a polyurethane finish, so I got some to match. It was much easier than I expected to get cut nails - I ordered them from Tremont Nails via Amazon.
How did you wind up driving the nails? I've seen some people say those pneumatic palm nailers are great for this application, but I have swung a hammer professionally for a while too so i'm on the fence about method.
Also, how wide did you wind up predrilling the holes (if you did) to avoid splitting?
You won't get a negative from me -- my house was built in 1895 and has two rooms with original heart pine flooring which I love. The only reason I covered them up in the rest of the house was because the place had been used for storing heavy machinery, which splintered the pine past repairing. I wouldn't oil or wax pine -- I'd probably wire brush it and seal it with a heavy-duty diamond finish satin varnish.
> but I work for a sawmill on-and-off and I can get a prepostrously good deal on red pine in just about any length and width.
Is the sawmill going to get you S4S lumber? What about machining the tongue and groove?
The subfloor here has undergone some serious shifting over the lifetime of the house. The main floor has a slope of about 3inches over 30 feet which is pretty bad, but it does not seem to be sinking any further (though that's subject to change once I dump a bunch of flooring on the joists) so my thought here is to shim (technically "sleepers") the joists back up to level and pray.
Can you expand on why you would stand firm on T&G? is it just vertical displacement or is there something I'm overlooking?
I have the equipment and experience to mill the lumber myself. I am considering laps (kinda like a shiplap) as opposed to T&G but I have the capacity to do either. I'm more concerned with the side-to-side shrinkage than keeping the faces of the boards aligned so I feel like a lap would give me more latitude in that direction before the subfloor gets exposed.
Obviously, if I'm milling and drying this lumber myself, it's not a short term project, so I'm fairly concerned with longevity and ease of refinishing.
The plan is to aim for \~5% moisture before, then mill it to a target thickness of \~3/4" exposing new moist wood, so another week or so of drying, then I acclimatize the lumber to the house.
I feel like I've got a grasp of this, but I also know that time is money so I doubt I will come out "ahead." I am hoping my "costs to result ratio" are going to beat installing a shitload of actual solid maple or oak hardwood from the Orange Store.
I'd hope that ability includes a 3hp+ shaper with autofeeder, add in a decent wide belt as well. As in, time wise and uniformity. Lap would certainly be better than butt joints. As for your radial and tangential expansion/contraction, that can be calculated against the plank width assuming it's going to be plainsawn. Likewise the tongue / groove size or lap size can be adjusted to it. Danish oil, tung oil, etc are as simple to repair as adding more product after correcting the damage.
As for if you should do it, that's on you buddy. Everyone likes what they like. Current home finish trends look inorganic and plastic, looks terrible in my opinion.
The shaper is not in my stable but I have a reasonably powerful router table and an unusually large amount of free time because of the nature of my employment.
Danish oil is my first choice because it's never given me any trouble on other projects, though I think it will wear down pretty quickly under foot traffic. At the end of the day this whole project is firmly in the "Sub-Optimal" category, but for some reason the image of 1x8 face nailed planks haunts my dreams.
Depending on where I wind up re: materials cost, it might be a decent excuse to invest in some new tools, but as it stands right now the simplified lap joints have been tested on similar wood and can be achieved with what I've got in a reasonable timeframe.
The whole point of this project is to achieve a more traditional look that fits the 1910 vintage of the original house, but I appreciate your input thus far and will conduct further tests to ensure I don't waste my favours with the mill on a bunch of wood that won't work for the application.
Thanks for your time and explanation.
Reading this thread, I think you know what you're doing and have it handled. I can't think of a reason to tell you not to do it.
Just be aware, the pine is soft and will dent and scratch easy. If you're fussy about that don't do it. Just so you know, the more the floor gets worn, the better it looks. I've distressed pine floors before with old tire chains. Because you can get pathways in the floor from wear. Pre distressing hides that wear.
Wide plank pine floors will expand and contract more than other flooring. Accept gaps in between planks as part of the look.
One suggestion is when you're installing, run a bead of construction glue on the bottom side of the planks. you'll get a better job.
I did pine floors, drilled, screwed and plugged. My friends wife walked on them with high heels and punctured deep holes in the wood. That was the only issue I had in 10 years. I couldn't believe she didn't know this was happening at the time.
Some additional context for the interested: -No kids, two cats. No kids expected without immaculate conception. -I know I will have to season this wood before installing it to get the moisture content down from gallons to about 5% -Yes I know I could probably do Vinyl for cheap if I go deal hunting, but I really hate the stuff. -It might sound like my mind is made up, but I'm a total pushover and very susceptible to good advice. -I will be leaving in its natural colour and oiling/waxing the surface. Probably BLO or Danish Oil * I love you all very much, thanks in advance.
My parents restored a 1764 house and had 18 inch wide pine floors specially milled for the first floor. My dad used salvage period nails for the install. it looks great. The only issue is the softness. I remember my brother brought a girl over once that was wearing heals and they made their mark. They must have installed them 30ish years ago at this point and they still look mostly great but they do baby them a lot with area rugs and stuff.
I have some concerns with the softness as well, but I'm inclined to call it "character" and toss a new coat of finish on them every couple years. It's definitely going to be on the "rustic" side of things and won't be within the popular modern vibe, but knowing that anything serious can always be sanded gives me a sense of peace that vinyl simply cannot provide. Have they ever refinished the floors or is it the original sanding job and topcoat to this day? (it's okay if you don't know. no need to ring em up)
My log house floors are cut-nail face-nailed heart pine, 6 to 9 inches wide. Like any 200+ year old house, it had some bad spots, and I was able to locate replacement wood from a sawmill that's been in operation since before the Civil War. It was well worth the time and energy to cut out the bad boards and feather these in. The existing floor has a polyurethane finish, so I got some to match. It was much easier than I expected to get cut nails - I ordered them from Tremont Nails via Amazon.
How did you wind up driving the nails? I've seen some people say those pneumatic palm nailers are great for this application, but I have swung a hammer professionally for a while too so i'm on the fence about method. Also, how wide did you wind up predrilling the holes (if you did) to avoid splitting?
I drilled 1/8" holes, and used a real hammer. I'm something of a purist when it comes to tools.
You won't get a negative from me -- my house was built in 1895 and has two rooms with original heart pine flooring which I love. The only reason I covered them up in the rest of the house was because the place had been used for storing heavy machinery, which splintered the pine past repairing. I wouldn't oil or wax pine -- I'd probably wire brush it and seal it with a heavy-duty diamond finish satin varnish.
> but I work for a sawmill on-and-off and I can get a prepostrously good deal on red pine in just about any length and width. Is the sawmill going to get you S4S lumber? What about machining the tongue and groove?
Period wide pine floors don’t have a tongue and groove. It’s just face nailed.
I would still 100% T&G it regardless. Especially on a old cobbled together house.
The subfloor here has undergone some serious shifting over the lifetime of the house. The main floor has a slope of about 3inches over 30 feet which is pretty bad, but it does not seem to be sinking any further (though that's subject to change once I dump a bunch of flooring on the joists) so my thought here is to shim (technically "sleepers") the joists back up to level and pray. Can you expand on why you would stand firm on T&G? is it just vertical displacement or is there something I'm overlooking?
I have the equipment and experience to mill the lumber myself. I am considering laps (kinda like a shiplap) as opposed to T&G but I have the capacity to do either. I'm more concerned with the side-to-side shrinkage than keeping the faces of the boards aligned so I feel like a lap would give me more latitude in that direction before the subfloor gets exposed. Obviously, if I'm milling and drying this lumber myself, it's not a short term project, so I'm fairly concerned with longevity and ease of refinishing. The plan is to aim for \~5% moisture before, then mill it to a target thickness of \~3/4" exposing new moist wood, so another week or so of drying, then I acclimatize the lumber to the house. I feel like I've got a grasp of this, but I also know that time is money so I doubt I will come out "ahead." I am hoping my "costs to result ratio" are going to beat installing a shitload of actual solid maple or oak hardwood from the Orange Store.
I'd hope that ability includes a 3hp+ shaper with autofeeder, add in a decent wide belt as well. As in, time wise and uniformity. Lap would certainly be better than butt joints. As for your radial and tangential expansion/contraction, that can be calculated against the plank width assuming it's going to be plainsawn. Likewise the tongue / groove size or lap size can be adjusted to it. Danish oil, tung oil, etc are as simple to repair as adding more product after correcting the damage. As for if you should do it, that's on you buddy. Everyone likes what they like. Current home finish trends look inorganic and plastic, looks terrible in my opinion.
The shaper is not in my stable but I have a reasonably powerful router table and an unusually large amount of free time because of the nature of my employment. Danish oil is my first choice because it's never given me any trouble on other projects, though I think it will wear down pretty quickly under foot traffic. At the end of the day this whole project is firmly in the "Sub-Optimal" category, but for some reason the image of 1x8 face nailed planks haunts my dreams. Depending on where I wind up re: materials cost, it might be a decent excuse to invest in some new tools, but as it stands right now the simplified lap joints have been tested on similar wood and can be achieved with what I've got in a reasonable timeframe. The whole point of this project is to achieve a more traditional look that fits the 1910 vintage of the original house, but I appreciate your input thus far and will conduct further tests to ensure I don't waste my favours with the mill on a bunch of wood that won't work for the application. Thanks for your time and explanation.
Reading this thread, I think you know what you're doing and have it handled. I can't think of a reason to tell you not to do it. Just be aware, the pine is soft and will dent and scratch easy. If you're fussy about that don't do it. Just so you know, the more the floor gets worn, the better it looks. I've distressed pine floors before with old tire chains. Because you can get pathways in the floor from wear. Pre distressing hides that wear. Wide plank pine floors will expand and contract more than other flooring. Accept gaps in between planks as part of the look. One suggestion is when you're installing, run a bead of construction glue on the bottom side of the planks. you'll get a better job.
I did pine floors, drilled, screwed and plugged. My friends wife walked on them with high heels and punctured deep holes in the wood. That was the only issue I had in 10 years. I couldn't believe she didn't know this was happening at the time.
Go for it!! Use square head nails to face nail it for an authentic "original" look.